Romance frauds not only attack a person financially but play on their psychological being. They often deplete the person’s self-confidence and self-esteem. Therefore, victims should not hush the matter up; rather, they should voice it, report it, and take due action.
Louisa got her money recovered after losing £49,000 in a romance scam. Lousia (name changed to protect identity) met Alfred online last October. Alfred showered her with attention which flattered a widowed Louisa, and she ended up sending him a huge amount of money. Unfortunately, Louisa’s is not a unique story; hundreds of people fall for similar scams every year.
Alfred told Lousia that he lived in the US and worked in the army, and that is why he couldn’t meet. But things moved forwards, and they started chatting regularly and made plans to spend time together.
Louisa felt connected and liked the attention the stranger had to offer, and it’s hard not to get lonely during the evenings and the weekends. But Alfred then made his move and asked for money from Louisa for a work contract so that he could move to the UK. She started growing suspicious and later found out that she had been a victim of romance fraud.
She was feeling awful. Louisa could not tell the incident to her family or friends, but she spoke up so others would not fall for such shticks. She says that you should tell your bank, the authorities, and the police since you can still get your money back.
- If you are dating someone online, do not send money, give access to your bank account, take a loan on the other person’s behalf.
- Do not give copies of your personal documents like your passport or driving license.
- Do not invest money on their advice.
- Do a reverse image search on a search engine to see if they are using fake photos.
- Contact the bank right away if you think you have been a victim of a scam.
Between November 2020 and October last year, Hampshire and Isle of Wight residents lost £3.1m through dating scams. According to Hampshire Constabulary, around 262 reports were recorded in 12 months. In addition, romance frauds increased during the lockdown since people felt isolated and spent more time at home.